to sow or not to sow that is the question...

[hiyatim]

just bought some seeds on offer, celery which can be planted until july and 'fine leaved chive' + 'cayenne long slim peppers' which can be planted out until end of may...the question is...is this as strict as it seems..could i try sowing some now or are the 10 days late i am critical??

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Tim, the dates are just guide lines - they are not set in stone! The seeds you have will be fine to sow now. With the flippin' cold weather that we have had delaying the sowing should help with germination. The cayenne chilli seeds need warmth to germinate and it can take up to 3 weeks but you can use the damp kitchen towel routine to speed it up.

[DavidT]

I agree with Lesley, sow them. The plants may ultimately be smaller than usual, but you should till get a crop.

[hiyatim]

yay excellent, thanks both, and as for the kitchen towel routine...im defo doing it i will be quite amazed to see a shoot come from the pepper seed, they dont get planted very deep so i guess it will be easier to plant after shooting.

a couple of other questions..the packet says sow outdoors, will it not do better in my greenhouse as it likes heat? also how big will the plant grow roughly? and finally how big a pot will it need? thanks again

[stupo74]

Hi Tim,
You will get the chillies to germinate no probs, and even if you do not get fruit this season, you can "Overwinter" a plant or 2 for a good start to the next season.
Can you give the variety?? are they Joes Long/pinnochios nose

The "Boss Lady" & "Mr T" are right, keep the temp constant,moisture,etc ,and the germination rate will be good and usually a little quicker with the less fluctuations in the above.

You can always "Trick" any new plants into "Flowering", at a later stage in the season, by providing a little extra light when the sun goes down, thus keeping the said plant in its "vegetive growing cycle" for a little longer.

However, if left for too long, you then have the problem of the fruit/plant not having enough time to develop and ripen properly, again without the aid of additional light.

The above said, what do you have to lose?? with the way the "seasons" are acting in this day and age???
cheers stupo

[hiyatim]

cheers stupo..they just sat cayenne long slim pepper on them so im guessing thats what they are??

i think the plan will be to leave them to their own devise and bring them in over winter, this is the first season so trying to keep it simple and i have loads of 6inch pots and not much more so seeing what i can grow well in them so i can concentrate more on the successes next year.

u think these will do ok in the greenhouse or should i have them outside?